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Help me find a good dealer!
I’m starting an active search for my Prevost Bus and wanted to show you where I’m looking and any ideas you have to broaden my search.
The following dealers are from the “Prevost Coaches for sale”. I included the converters because they also have used coaches listed. What I’d like to know is if there are other places you would recommend I look? I’ve already set up a search on RV Trader.
If the age of the bus I’m looking for is important its 1955 to 2001. I’ll also keep my eyes open for “For Sale By Owner”. If there are sites that cater to By Owner coaches, I would appreciate that information as well.
FEATHERLITE COACHES Sanford, FL 478-54-1381
FRAWICK LUXURY COACH FT WORTH, TX 817-354-0700
LEGACY COACH Rockwall, TX 972-771-5900
MILLENNIUM LEXURY COACHES Sanford, FL 407-328-0190
OLYMPIA LUXURY COACHES La Verge, TN 615-280-1278
PANTERRA LUXURE COACH Holland, MI 616-396-1626
PARILAMENT MOTOR COACH Clearwater, FL 888-571-5755
PREMIUM COACH GROUP Gilbert & Mesa, AZ 480-245-7870
STALEY COACH Madison, TN 615-860-9485
THE MOTORCOACH STORE Bradenton, FL 630-558-2785
TRADEWINDS COACH & MARINA Deland, FL 386-848-4466
Thanks for your help,
HJ
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41 Replies
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HJ,
Your second dealer on your list is “Trawick” out of Dallas. I purchased my coach there, which was on consignment. Chris and his team are terrific. They had worked at Marathon in Dallas prior to Chris opening “Trawick” luxury coach.
Not that I’m trying to sell you on Marathon; however, they have three dealers across the country, Oregon, Texas, and Florida and usually they have a very good selection.
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Thanks Tim,
Excellent news! We all know that some dealers do a better job than others and I’m happy to hear those who are well thought of!
HJ
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Steve Bennett at Bennett Coaches in California is spoken very well of on the Forum.
Another is Mr. Oliver in Texas. Don’t know anything about him except that he has had some nice looking coaches listed for sale.
Jeff Rowe at East Tennessee Luxury Coach in Vonore, TN has pre-owned for sale from time to time.
Joel Elmore of Florida RV Brokers has experience with Prevosts and represents Prevosts from time to time. He showed us a coach near Lakeland (FL) early on in our search and I found him to be a very pleasant and entertaining fellow.
Craigslist. As bizzare as it might seem, I found our coach on Craigslist advertised in only the Knoxville and Atlanta markets; hence it wasn’t being exposed to the market very well. After I found a Prevost for sale on Chicago Craigslist I started to regularly looking at Craigslist around the country … and actually found some that I didn’t see advertised anywhere else.
You could also call Tom Chilcote, find him in the PC advertiser section as “Trans-Specialists” selling batteries and tire pressure monitors. His coach is continually for sale as he looks for a coach with slides for his wife. You’ll find him elusive and likely a little ornery … but don’t let that deter you … he’ll claim the coach isn’t for sale, its their last coach, yada, yada, yada. Be persistant. I understand he’s a pretty nice guy … but when it comes to talking about his coach he gets a little sideways.
Good luck!
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Jaysus Dick, I can’t even IMAGINE how high your dues are going to go.(-:
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HJ, I presume you meant 1995-2001. That said…H or XL? price range(leaving at least 15-20K in reserve)? Geo.
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keep in mind those years are infrequently found at the Invertor’s inventory. I looked at a 99 H3 last year at featherlite a found them to be very forthcoming about the coach, and the maintenance logs they had on it.
good luck
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HJ,
Before you spend a lot of time change your purchase criteria with some more specific and important needs.
Start with a budget. The age range you selected can have some very nice, well maintained and relatively expensive coaches, but it can also have some garbage with a pretty low price. If you set a budget it narrows the field.
Then define your wants and needs, beginning with the model such as an H or XL. If length is an issue that has to be defined. If height is an issue it might eliminate some H models.
Then put deal breakers at the top of the list. These would be things that a coach must have (or must not have) for you to consider it. That really starts to narrow the field. As an example I won’t even look at an ad for a coach unless it has a private toilet and over the road Prevost heat and air. Your list of deal breakers is going to be influenced greatly by how you intend to use the coach. If you are a power pole to power pole RV owner the batery capacity will not be as important to you as it will be to those that will do a lot of dry camping such as at race weekends.
My need for OTR heat and air goes away if I used my coach as a second home at an RV resort, but as long as we travel a lot putting on the miles it is a very big deal. If you intend to travel on the highway a lot, and you want to expand your options beyond the relatively few coaches with OTR, at the very least you may consider that the coach has to have roof airs for on the road cooling.
Then list things you prefer, but which might not eliminate a coach from consideration. You may prefer a table and chairs for dining as opposed to a J booth. You may want 2 sofas instead of a sofa and a recliner. Maybe a king sized bed is a preference.
The reason you need to do your homework before you go out and kick some tires is for your benefit. As you sharpen your focus you get pretty well informed of what is out there for sale that meets your needs, and you get a real sense of value so you aren’t wasting your time looking at coaches that might be really nice, but will not work for you.
If you do a search of the discussions on this forum you are going to find some strong opinions about certain features and they are valid because we are all different and with regard to our own needs our opinions are correct. You have to decide what is right for you. If you are a “keeper” and do not tend to flip a coach your front end study of your needs is very important because if you did not give serious thought to what you want you will live with your mistake for a long time.
Conversely if you “flip” the coach within a short period of time get close to your wants and needs but focus primarily on what it is going to cost to buy and fix. If you can find a good coach that you can resell in a short period of time for near what you paid you don’t have to be as fussy regarding how it is equipped.
Having said that keep in mind every single Prevost conversion is a compromise. They all will do pretty good in any application, from dry camping, to building miles while you see the country, to being a second home in a resort. The nuances however will make one a little better than another at specific uses. Some have a lot of battery capacity so they are good for dry camping, but it gets expensive when you need to replace batteries. Some are simple designs and have good but less complicated systems. Some have an abundance of features but are more complex and are a little more complicated to repair. All of these things you should consider.
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We just purchased our Liberty from Legacy coach in Rockwall,Tx. Brandon and James are great folks to work with.
Mr Olivers has had a few Prevosts over the last couple years. Terri Roberts is the owner -
Yes I did mean 1995 to 2001. I think I’ll be able to post the specifics on what I’m looking for later today.
My thanks to you all,
HJ
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Hang on HJ, if your thinking about a cherry 40′, one may be coming soon….
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Just watch Dan, his password is about to change….
Correction on Steve Bennett, he closed his business last year and joined Premium. Dick should know that, but sometimes the cheese gets the best of him.
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I would definitely add Donnie Meyers Rv service in Sanford Fl to your list. He has a great selection of coaches available. No one knows a about up to 2009 Featherlite coaches than Donnie. Absolute straight shooter. Highly recommend. His number is 407-323-2367
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I’ve looked at some of the coaches Donnie has for sale and imo his prices are WAY too expensive! There seems to be no rhyme or reason for the price differences between two exact year coaches from the same converter. I think many people are quite proud of their used coaches! Premium coach in Gilbert AZ has had some really nice coaches. We lost out on our dream coach (new owners got a hell of a deal) from them simply for not liking the plain white paint job. Never again will I judge a book by its cover. good luck I. Your search HJ
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
Re: Donnie Meyers – You get what you pay for!
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We have asked Donnie many times to join us on PC, hope he eventually comes on board.
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